Method and system for providing communication services using a plurality of remote subscriber identity modules

ABSTRACT

A method and a wireless communication device for providing communication service to devices connected to the wireless communication device. By establishing a starter wireless carrier connection using a starter SIM from a plurality of local SIMs, the wireless communication device establishes one or more logical data connections with one or more SIM banks. Remote-SIMs are selected from the one or more SIM banks and used to establish further wireless carrier connections to allow communication service to be provided to the devices over wireless carrier connections.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a non-provisional continuation in-partapplication, which claims the benefits of and is based on U.S.application Ser. No. 17/040,527 filed on Sep. 22, 2020, which is a 371National Stage entry of Patent Cooperation Treaty Application No.PCT/IB2020/054671, filed on May 18, 2020, and is related to U.S.application Ser. No. 17/029,018, U.S. application Ser. No. 17/029,022,and U.S. application Ser. No. 17/029,024 all filed on Sep. 22, 2020, thedisclosures of which are hereby incorporated by specific referencethereto.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention generally relates to wireless communicationdevices that use remote SIM to establish wireless carrier connections,and more particularly to select a plurality of remote SIMs and establishthe wireless carrier connections through a plurality of wirelesscommunication modules.

BACKGROUND ART

A wireless communication device, such as a cellular router, providescommunication services to other devices. The wireless communicationdevice may establish a wireless carrier connection and then allow theother devices to send and receive data over the wireless carrierconnection. In order to establish wireless carrier connections, one ormore subscriber identity module (SIM) cards are used.

When the wireless communication device moves to another location, adifferent SIM card may be required. Further, when the data quota of aSIM card is used up or about to be used up, another different SIM cardmay be swapped with the SIM card. Also, when a SIM card is out-of-order,a new SIM will be required to replace the SIM card. There is a myriad ofreasons why a SIM card may need to be replaced at the wirelesscommunication device.

One of the solutions is to use remote SIM. The remote SIM is placed atSIM bank. The wireless communication device communicates with the SIMbank over a logic data connection in order to use the remote SIM; andthe logical data connection is established over the already establishedwireless carrier connection.

In case there is disruption, at the logical data connection or/and atthe wireless carrier connection, communications with the SIM bank may beaffected adversely. Then a remote SIM that has been being used maybecome unavailable. In such circumstances, the wireless communicationdevice will not be able to provide communication services to otherdevices.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention discloses a method to select subscriber identitymodule (SIM) card at a wireless communication device. The selectioncomprises: establish a starter wireless carrier connection using astarter local SIM. Then, a starter authentication connection isestablished between the wireless communication device and a SIM bank.When the starter authentication connection is established, select afirst local SIM or a first remote SIM from the SIM bank to establish afirst wireless carrier connection. After that, disconnect the starterwireless carrier connection. A second local SIM or a second remote SIMis selected from the SIM bank to establish a second wireless carrierconnection. Finally, communication service is provided to devicesconnected to the wireless communication device over one of or both ofthe first wireless carrier connection and second wireless carrierconnection.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A illustrates a schematic block diagram of wireless communicationdevice according to one of the embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 1B illustrates a schematic block diagram of wireless communicationdevice according to one of the embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 1C illustrates a schematic block diagram of SIM bank according tothe present invention.

FIG. 1D illustrates a schematic block diagram of SIM bank managementserver according to the present invention.

FIG. 2A illustrates a network diagram according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 2B illustrates a wireless carrier connection according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 3A is a process flowchart illustrating a method for selecting R-SIMaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 3B is a process flowchart illustrating a method for providingauthentication information according to the present invention.

FIG. 4A is a process flowchart illustrating a method according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4B is a process flowchart illustrating a method according to oneexample embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5A is a process flowchart illustrating a method according to oneexample embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5B is a process flowchart illustrating a method according to oneexample embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5C is a process flowchart illustrating a method according to oneexample embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a process flowchart illustrating a method according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a process flowchart illustrating a method according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8A is a process flowchart illustrating a method according to oneexample embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8B is a process flowchart illustrating a method according to oneexample embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8C is a process flowchart illustrating a method according to oneexample embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8D is a process flowchart for one of the embodiments according tothe present invention.

FIG. 9A is a process flowchart illustrating a method according to oneexample embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9B is a process flowchart illustrating a method according to oneexample embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a timing diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The ensuing description provides preferred exemplary embodiment(s) only,and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configurationof the invention. Rather, the ensuing description of the preferredexemplary embodiment(s) will provide those skilled in the art with anenabling description for implementing a preferred exemplary embodimentof the invention. It is being understood that various changes may bemade in the function and arrangement of elements without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appendedclaims.

Specific details are given in the following description to provide athorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will beunderstood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments maybe practiced without these specific details. For example, circuits maybe shown in block diagrams in order not to obscure the embodiments inunnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits, processes,algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessarydetail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments.

Also, it is noted that the embodiments may be described as a processwhich is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram,or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations asa sequential process, many of the operations can be performed inparallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations maybe re-arranged. A process is terminated when its operations arecompleted, but could have additional steps not included in the figure. Aprocess may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, asubroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function,its termination corresponds to a return of the function to the callingfunction or the main function.

Embodiments, or portions thereof, may be embodied in programinstructions operable upon a processing unit for performing functionsand operations as described herein. The program instructions making upthe various embodiments may be stored in a storage medium.

The program instructions making up the various embodiments may be storedin a storage medium. Moreover, as disclosed herein, the term “storagemedium” may represent one or more devices for storing data, includingread-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM), random access memory (RAM),magnetic RAM, core memory, floppy disk, flexible disk, hard disk,magnetic tape, CD-ROM, flash memory devices, a memory card and/or othermachine-readable mediums for storing information.

The term “machine-readable medium” includes, but is not limited toportable or fixed storage devices, optical storage devices, wirelesschannels and various other mediums capable of storing, containing orcarrying instruction(s) and/or data. A machine-readable medium can berealized by virtualization, and can be a virtual machine-readable mediumincluding a virtual machine-readable medium in a cloud-based instance.Furthermore, embodiments may be implemented by hardware, software,firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description, languages, or anycombination thereof. When implemented in software, firmware, middlewareor microcode, the program code or code segments to perform the necessarytasks may be stored in a machine-readable medium such as storage medium.

The term computer-readable medium, main memory, secondary storage, orother storage medium as used herein refers to any medium thatparticipates in providing instructions to a processing unit forexecution. The processing unit reads the data written in the primarystorage medium and writes the data in the secondary storage medium.Therefore, even if the data written in the primary storage medium islost due to a momentary power failure and the like, the data can berestored by transferring the data held in the secondary storage mediumto the primary storage medium. The computer-readable medium is just oneexample of a machine-readable medium, which may carry instructions forimplementing any of the methods and/or techniques described herein. Sucha medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatilemedia, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile mediaincludes, for example, optical or magnetic disks. Volatile storageincludes dynamic memory. Transmission media includes coaxial cables,copper wire and fiber optics. Transmission media can also take the formof acoustic or light waves, such as those generated during radio-waveand infrared data communications.

A volatile storage may be used for storing temporary variables or otherintermediate information during execution of instructions by aprocessing unit. A non-volatile storage or static storage may be usedfor storing static information and instructions for processor, as wellas various system configuration parameters.

The storage medium may include a number of software modules that may beimplemented as software codes to be executed by the processing unitusing any suitable computer instruction type. The software code may bestored as a series of instructions or commands, or as a program in thestorage medium.

Various forms of computer readable media may be involved in carrying oneor more sequences of one or more instructions to the processor forexecution. For example, the instructions may initially be carried on amagnetic disk from a remote computer. Alternatively, a remote computercan load the instructions into its dynamic memory and send theinstructions to the system that runs one or more sequences of one ormore instructions.

A processing unit may be a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digitalsignal processor (DSP), any combination of those devices, or any othercircuitry configured to process information.

A processing unit executes program instructions or code segments forimplementing embodiments of the present invention. Furthermore,embodiments may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware,middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or anycombination thereof. When implemented in software, firmware, middlewareor microcode, the program instructions to perform the necessary tasksmay be stored in a computer readable storage medium. A processingunit(s) can be realized by virtualization, and can be a virtualprocessing unit(s) including a virtual processing unit in a cloud-basedinstance.

Embodiments of the present invention are related to the use of acomputer system for implementing the techniques described herein. In anembodiment, the inventive processing units may reside on a machine suchas a computer platform. According to one embodiment of the invention,the techniques described herein are performed by computer system inresponse to the processing unit executing one or more sequences of oneor more instructions contained in the volatile memory. Such instructionsmay be read into the volatile memory from another computer-readablemedium. Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in thevolatile memory causes the processing unit to perform the process stepsdescribed herein. In alternative embodiments, hard-wired circuitry maybe used in place of or in combination with software instructions toimplement the invention. Thus, embodiments of the invention are notlimited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.

Alternatively, hardware circuitry may be used in place of, or incombination with, software instructions to implement processesconsistent with the principles of the invention. Thus, implementationsconsistent with principles of the invention are not limited to anyspecific combination of hardware circuitry and software.

A network interface may be implemented by a standalone electroniccomponent or may be integrated with other electronic components. Anetwork interface may have no network connection or at least one networkconnection depending on the configuration. A network interface, such asnetwork interfaces 135 and 136 in WCD 100 may be an Ethernet interface,a frame relay interface, a fiber optic interface, a cable interface, aDigital Subscriber Line (DSL) interface, a token ring interface, aserial bus interface, a universal serial bus (USB) interface, Firewireinterface, Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) interface, cellularnetwork interface, etc.

A network interface may connect to a wired or wireless access network.An access network may carry one or more network protocol data. A wiredaccess network may be implemented using Ethernet, fiber optic, cable,DSL, frame relay, token ring, serial bus, USB, Firewire, PCI, or anymaterial that can pass information. A wireless access network may beimplemented using infrared, High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), HSPA+, LongTerm Evolution (LTE), WiMAX, General packet radio service (GPRS), GlobalSystem for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSMEvolution (EDGE), Code division multiple access (CDMA), Wi-Fi, CDMA2000,Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), Time Division CDMA (TD-SCDMA), BLUETOOTH, WiBRO,Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO); Digital Enhanced CordlessTelecommunications (DECT); Digital AMPS (IS-136/TDMA); IntegratedDigital Enhanced (iDEN) or any other wireless technologies. For example,a network interface may be used as a local area network (LAN) interfaceor a wide area network (WAN) interface.

As disclosed herein the term “wireless communication module” mayrepresent a transceiver module to provide network capabilities to apower controller or power controller server using 3G, GPRS or GPSmodules, through wires or through an Ethernet cable. The wirelesscommunication module lows a processing unit to obtain user informationand communications port of the wireless communication module can connectto a personal computer or other power controller or power controllerserver (PCS) through wires or wirelessly by using serial bus or Ethernetor using 2G/3G/4G or LTE technology. The wireless communication modulecan be used as a network interface for applications that require data tobe shared between a power controller and an intelligent device such as ahost computer and/or a server.

FIG. 1A is a schematic block diagram illustrating the hardware blocks ofWireless Communication Device (WCD) 100. WCD 100 comprises a pluralityof SIM card interfaces 117 and a plurality of Embedded UniversalIntegrated Circuit Cards (eUICCs) 116. Each of the plurality of SIM cardinterfaces 117 is configurable to connect one or more removable SIMs.For illustration purposes, one removable SIM is described herein foreach of the SIM card interfaces. For example, SIM card interface 117 ais connected to removable SIM 112 a and SIM card interface 117 b isconnected to removable SIM 112 b. A removal SIM may be a UniversalIntegrated Circuit Card. Each of the SIM card interfaces may beconnected to a SIM slot for placing the removable SIM.

eUICCs 116 may be built into the WCD and are not removable. Each of theeUICCs 116 is configurable to implement one or more electronic SIMs(eSIMs). For illustration purposes, one eSIM is described herein foreach of the eUICCs. For example, eUICC 116 a is used to implement eSIM111 a and eSIM 111 c; and eUICC 116 b is used to implement eSIM 111 band eSIM 111 d. An eSIM may represent a SIM profile. The SIM profile maybe derived from a remote eSIM subscription management server based onthe information provided by a wireless carrier network. A SIM profilecontains information which provides access to a specific wirelesscarrier network for wireless communication. eSIMs 111 a-d may be fromthe same or different wireless carrier networks. eSIMs 111 and removableSIMs 112, hereinafter, are also referred to as local SIMs (L-SIMs). Alocal SIM (L-SIM) is a SIM that is placed in WCD 100. There is nolimitation on the number of SIMs that may be placed in WCD 100.

WCD 100 is also configurable to connect one or more remote SIMs (R-SIMs)through the Internet. A remote SIM (R-SIM) is a SIM that is placed in aSIM bank. For illustration purposes, R-SIMs 113 a and 113 b are shown.R-SIMs 113 a and 113 b may be placed in one or more SIM banksconfigurable to connect with WCD 100 through one or more dataconnections. There is no limitation on the number of SIMs that may beplaced in a SIM bank. There is no limitation on the number of SIM banksthat may be connected to WCD 100. For example, R-SIMs 113 a and 113 bmay be placed in two different SIM banks.

WCD 100 further comprises a plurality of wireless communication modules(WCMs), such as WCMs 101 a-101 c. Each of the plurality of WCMs 101 isconfigurable to connect any one of the L-SIMs or R-SIMs at a time. TheWireless communication modules, such as WCMs 101, may be connected toembedded/external antennas and perform wireless communication via theantennas. An example of WCM is Sierra Wireless EM7511.

A processing unit, such as processing unit 160, executes programinstructions or code segments for implementing embodiments of thepresent invention. Furthermore, embodiments may be implemented byhardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardwaredescription languages, or any combination thereof. When implemented insoftware, firmware, middleware or microcode, the program instructions toperform the necessary tasks may be stored in a computer-readable storagemedium.

Processing unit 160 may be a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), afield-programmable gate array (FPGA), a central processing unit (CPU), amicroprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor (DSP), anycombination of those devices, or any other circuitry configurable toexecute the program instructions for implementing the embodimentsdisclosed herein. In one exemplary embodiment, processing unit 160 hasan adequate number of input/output pins and processing power. Therefore,processing unit 160 may be directly connected to SIM card interfaces117, eUICCs 116, WCMs 101 and other hardware components, such as, mainmemory 132 and system bus 137.

In another exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1B, processing unit160 does not have an adequate number of input/output pins to connect toall hardware components. Therefore, a complex programmable logic device(CPLD), for example, CPLD 150 is connected to processing unit 160 inorder to provide an adequate number of input/output pins. Some of thehardware components such as eUICCs 116, SIM card interfaces 117 and WCMs101 may be connected to the processing unit through the CPLD while theother hardware components, such as main memory 132 and system bus 137may be connected to the processing unit directly, through anothercircuit, and/or through another CPLD. There are no limitations that aCPLD must be used. Any logic circuit configurable to realizemultiplexing may be used. For example, an FPGA or a multiplexer may alsobe used.

Network interfaces 135 and 136 may be connected to processing unit 160through system bus 137. System bus 137 can be any of several types ofbus structures including a memory bus, a peripheral bus, and a local bususing any of a variety of bus architectures.

In one variant, WCM 101 a-c, eUICC 116 a-b, SIM interfaces 117 a-b andmain memory 132 are not connected to processing unit 160 directly.Instead they are connected to processing unit 160 indirectly through abus, such as system bus 137. In one variant, they are connected toprocessing unit 160 indirectly through multiple buses.

FIG. 2A is a schematic block diagram illustrating an exemplary networkenvironment operable to utilize a plurality of SIMs for datacommunication in accordance with the embodiments disclosed herein. FIG.2A includes three wireless carrier networks, for example, wirelesscarrier networks 201 a-201 c. Each wireless carrier network may providecommunication coverage for a corresponding particular geographic areausing cellular technologies. Wireless carrier networks 201 a-201 c maybe operated by the same company or different companies.

WCD 100 may communicate with web server 208, network node 210, SIM banks212, SIM bank management server 216 and eSIM subscription managementserver 214 through interconnected networks 217. For readability, theeSIM subscription management server is hereinafter referred to as eSIMserver. WCD 100 may connect with interconnected network 217 through oneor more wireless carrier connection(s) established through wirelesscarrier networks 201 a-201 c. WCD 100 may establish the wireless carrierconnection(s) by using any SIMs including L-SIMs and R-SIMs discussedunder FIG. 1A.

Optionally, FIG. 2A also includes a satellite carrier network, forexample, satellite carrier network 205. Satellite carrier network 205may be realized using a geostationary satellite or a low earth orbit(LEO) satellite which provides communication coverage for a largergeographic area compared to a wireless carrier network. For example, WCD100 may be under respective coverage of satellite carrier network 205and may connect with interconnected network 217 optionally through oneor more satellite data connections established through satellite carriernetwork 205.

Optionally, WCD 100 is also capable of being connected with one or morewired communication networks. An example wired communication network mayinclude network nodes 209. WCD 100 may connect to interconnected network217 optionally through one or more wired data connections establishedusing one or more network nodes including, but not limited to, 209.

WCD 100 may be connected with one or more local hosts directly orthrough a connected local area network (LAN). For illustration purposes,WCD 100 is connected to local host Laptop 206 directly and to local hostIoT 204 through LAN 202. Each of the local hosts 204 and 206 may connectto interconnected network 217 through WCD 100. Thus, WCD 100 acts as agateway to allow data packets to be routed through one or more wirelesscarrier connection(s) established through wireless carrier networks 201a-201 c.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, when a first groupof data packets is received at WCD 100 from a local host which isdestined for a remote host reachable through any of the wireless carrierconnections established, WCD 100 first decides which wireless carrierconnections should be used for sending the data packets. Forillustration purposes, WCD 100 receives data packets from laptop 206which are destined for website server 208. The decision for selectingthe wireless carrier connection(s) to send the data packets may be basedon a policy. The policy may be based on one or more of the followingcriteria: network performance, network security, user access, userpreference, device preference, signal strength, billing cycle, time.

FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary SIM bank accordingto one embodiment of the present invention. For example, the exemplarySIM bank is SIM bank 212 a. SIM bank 212 a comprises at least oneprocessing unit 153 and at least one main memory 154. Processing unit153 may be connected with main memory 154 directly and with otherhardware components, for example, with at least one secondary storage155, one or more network interfaces 156 and a plurality of SIMinterfaces 152, through a system bus, such as system bus 157. System bus157 may be any of several types of bus structures including a memorybus, a peripheral bus or a local bus using any of a variety of busarchitecture.

Each of the plurality of SIM interfaces 152 may be connected with acorresponding SIM slot, such as SIM slots 151 to place or to connect toa SIM. A SIM interface, such as SIM interfaces 152, is used to accessand write information to and from a SIM. There are many SIM interfacesavailable from different manufacturers. Some of the SIM interfacesprovide functions of power supply, card reset signal, card clock signaland data exchange. A data exchange may be performed between the SIM andthe processing unit of SIM bank 212 a through the SIM interfaces. Someof the SIM interfaces may only be connected with one SIM, while some maybe connected with a plurality of SIMs.

In one variant, hardware components such as secondary storage 155,network interfaces 156, and SIM interfaces 152 may be directly connectedwith processing unit 153 when the processing unit has an adequate numberof I/O pins. System bus 157 may be omitted. Alternatively, whenprocessing unit 153 does not have an adequate number of I/O pins, someor all of the hardware components may be connected to the processingunit using one or more CPLDs. There is no limitation that CPLDs must beused. Multiplexers, FPGAs or any logic circuits which serve the purposeof providing the required number of I/O pins may also be used.

The one or more SIM banks may be managed by one or more SIM bankmanagement servers. For example, one SIM bank management server 216 isshown in FIG. 2A. SIM bank management server 216 may be remotely orlocally coupled to the SIM banks. Connection of WCD 100 to SIM bank 212a may be managed through a SIM bank management server, for example, SIMbank management server 216 shown in FIG. 2A. There is no limitation thata SIM bank and a SIM bank management server must be separated. A devicemay comprise a SIM bank and a SIM bank management server together.

The SIM bank management server may perform a device authenticationprocedure before providing access to WCD 100 to any of the SIM banks.For availing the device authentication information, WCD 100 may need tobe registered with the SIM bank management server. The registration maybe performed online, such as through a user interface (e.g. web page orweb form) or offline. The authentication information to authenticate WCD100 may be duly provided by WCD 100 or by an administrator of WCD 100 toSIM bank management server 216. SIM bank management server 216 may storenecessary information including, but not limited to, WCD information,administrator information, registration information, authenticationinformation, number of SIM banks connected, SIM banks' location andinformation of SIMs placed in the SIM banks.

WCD 100 may communicate with SIM bank management server 216 foraccessing information of SIM banks 212. At first, WCD 100 may not haveaccess information of a SIM bank, after communicating with the SIM bankmanagement server 216, WCD 100 may receive access information, such asIP address and hostname of a SIM bank and/or a security code. Afterreceiving the access information, WCD 100 may become able to access thecorresponding SIM bank.

FIG. 1D is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary SIM bank managementserver 216 shown in FIG. 2A. SIM bank management server 216 comprises atleast one processing unit 161 and at least one main memory 162.Processing unit 161 may be connected with main memory 162 directly andwith other components, for example, with at least one secondary storage163 and one or more network interfaces 164 a and 164 b, through a systembus 165. System bus 165 may be any of several types of bus structuresincluding a memory bus, a peripheral bus or a local bus using any of avariety of bus architecture.

FIG. 2B illustrates how a wireless carrier connection carries differentlogical data connections. Wireless carrier connection 230 may be one ofthe wireless carrier connections established by WCD 100 over any ofwireless carrier networks 201 a-201 c. Wireless carrier connection 230may be established using 2G/3G/4G/5G, LTE, Wi-Fi, or any other wirelesscommunication technologies. Logical data connections 231-233 may beestablished using TCP/IP, UDP/IP, IP or any logical data connectionprotocol. For example, logical data connection 231 may be establishedbetween WCD 100 and network node 210; logical data connection 232 may beestablished between WCD 100 and SIM bank 212 a; and logical dataconnection 233 may be established between WCD 100 and SIM bank 212 b.There is no limitation that all logical data connections 231-233 must beestablished using the same or different logical data connectionprotocols. There is no limit on the number of logical data connectionsthat may comprise in a wireless carrier connection. A logical dataconnection may also be a tunnel to encapsulate another logical dataconnection. A plurality of logical data connections may also beaggregated together to form an aggregated logical data connection.

As WCD 100 may have established a plurality of wireless carrierconnections concurrently, WCD 100 may establish a logical dataconnection with a device reachable through interconnected networks 217through any of the plurality of wireless carrier connections. WCD 100may also establish a plurality of logical data connections with a devicereachable through interconnected networks 217 through the plurality ofwireless carrier connections concurrently.

FIG. 3A is a process flowchart illustrating a method performed at WCD100, SIM bank 212 and/or SIM bank management server 216 to select R-SIM.In process 311, the processing unit determines the identities ofwireless carrier networks that are being used by WCD 100. WCD 100 may beusing no, one or a plurality of wireless carrier networks. In process312, the processing unit determines the number of R-SIMs to be selected,which should be equal to or fewer than the number of WCMs available. Theselected R-SIMs will be used by the WCMs to establish wireless carrierconnection(s).

In process 313, the processing unit determines the wireless carriernetworks to be used, which will be based on the wireless carriernetworks identified at the location of WCD 100. In process 314, theprocessing unit selects R-SIMs that satisfy a SIM selection policy perwireless carrier network with the goal to maximize the number ofwireless carrier networks. When trying to maximize the number ofwireless carrier networks, the processing unit may take into account thewireless carrier network(s) identified in process 311. The number ofR-SIMs selected may be zero, one or more than one.

In an example scenario, WCD 100 in FIG. 2A has three WCMs, namely WCMs101 a-c in FIG. 1A. WCM 101 a has already established a wireless carrierconnection with wireless carrier network 201 a using L-SIM 112 a.Therefore, the wireless network carrier determined in process 311 iswireless carrier network 201 a.

Therefore, there are still two available WCMs, namely WCM 101 b and WCM101 c. In process 312, the number of R-SIMs to be selected will be two,i.e. two R-SIMs may then be selected for the WCM 101 b and WCM 101 c.

In process 313, the wireless networks determined to be used are wirelesscarrier network 201 a-201 c as these three networks are identified atthe location of WCD 100.

In process 314, when selecting the two R-SIMs, the processing unit takesinto account wireless carrier network A in order to maximize the numberof different wireless carrier networks. The selected R-SIMs should alsosatisfy the SIM selection policy. If a selected R-SIM is a roamingR-SIM, the wireless carrier networks available to use the roaming R-SIMwill also be considered to maximize the number of different wirelesscarrier networks. For example, there are a plurality of R-SIMs thatsatisfy the SIM selection policy, R-SIMs that are capable to be used forestablishing wireless carrier connections with wireless carrier network201 a, wireless carrier network 201 b and wireless carrier network 201 cmay be selected. However, in order to maximize the number of wirelesscarrier networks, only one R-SIM that is capable of establishingwireless carrier connections over wireless carrier network 201 b and oneR-SIM that is capable of being used for establishing wireless carrierconnections over wireless carrier network 201 c are selected.

Further, International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) andInternational Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) of the selected R-SIMsmay then be forwarded by the SIM bank 212 or SIM bank management server216 to WCD 100 in process 314.

There is no limitation that the number of R-SIMs selected must be two.The number of R-SIMs selected may be different depends on the number ofWCMs available,

When the number of wireless carrier networks at the location of WCD 100is smaller than the number of R-SIMs to be selected, at least two R-SIMsmay belong to one same wireless carrier network. If a selected R-SIM isa roaming R-SIM, the roaming R-SIM may be configured to use the samewireless carrier network with another R-SIM.

Processes 311 to 314 may be performed by the processing unit of WCD 100,the processing unit of SIM bank 212 or the processing unit of WCD 100individually or together. For example, process 311 may be performed byprocessing unit 160 of WCD 100 to determine the wireless carriernetworks using one of WCMs 101. Process 311 may also be performed by theprocessing unit of SIM bank 212 or the processing unit of WCD 100. Theprocessing unit of SIM bank 212 or the processing unit of WCD 100 maysearch a database for wireless carrier networks based on locationinformation provided by WCD 100.

In one variant, the processes shown in FIG. 3A also applies to L-SIM.

FIG. 3B is a process flowchart illustrating a method performed by SIMbank 212 and/or SIM bank management server 216 to provide authenticationinformation to WCD 100. At process 321, SIM bank 212 and/or SIM bankmanagement server 216 receives one or more authentication requests fromWCD 100. An authentication request is originally sent by a wirelesscarrier network to a WCM in WCD 100 for an R-SIM selected. When the WCM100 sends an IMSI or IMEI to a wireless carrier network, the wirelesscarrier network may send the authentication request, such as a randomchallenge (RAND), to the WCM.

At process 321, SIM bank 212 forwards the authentication request to theselected SIM, which is accessible by the SIM bank 212. In the case thatthe authentication request is sent to SIM management server 216, SIMmanagement server 216 will forward the authentication request to acorresponding SIM bank, such as SIM 212, for processing.

At process 322, the selected SIM processes the authentication requestand then creates the authentication information, such as signed response(SRES), in response to the authentication requests. SIM bank 212 a thenforwards the authentication information received from the selected SIMto WCD 100 in process 323.

In one variant, WCD 100 may send a plurality of authentication requeststogether. When SIM bank 212 a and/or SIM bank management server 216receives the authentication requests in process 321, it may processprocesses 322 and 323 in parallel or in sequence for each authenticationrequest.

In one variant, when a plurality of authentication requests is sent toSIM bank management server 216, SIM bank management server 216 mayforward the authentication requests to a plurality of SIM banks based onwhere the selected SIMs are located.

FIG. 4A is a process flowchart illustrating a method according to oneembodiment of the present invention. The method may be performed atprocessing unit 160 of WCD 100. FIG. 4A should be viewed in conjunctionwith FIG. 1A and FIG. 2A. The method begins at process 400. At process401, processing unit 160 selects an L-SIM from a plurality of availableL-SIMs as a starter SIM to establish a starter wireless carrierconnection with a starter wireless carrier network, for example,wireless carrier network 201 c. The starter SIM is the first SIM insequence being selected and used.

An available L-SIM is an L-SIM placed in WCD 100 and is not assignedwith a WCM yet. A starter SIM refers to a SIM that is selected toestablish a starter wireless carrier connection with a wireless carriernetwork. Once the connection is established, the wireless carriernetwork is referred to as the starter wireless carrier network and theconnection is referred to as the starter wireless carrier connection.The selection of the L-SIM to be the starter SIM may be based oninstructions manually provided by an administrator of the WCD or maybebe based on a starter SIM selection policy. The starter SIM selectionpolicy may be configured by the administrator of WCD 100 or retrievedfrom a remote server. The starter SIM selection policy may be based onone or more of the following criteria: geolocation of WCD 100, positionof SIM placed in WCD 100, SIM category, network performance history of aSIM, identity of wireless carrier network issuing a SIM, servicesoffered by wireless carrier network of a SIM, service quality ofwireless carrier network of a SIM, administrator's preference, tariffs,remaining using usage quota of available L-SIMs, billing cycleinformation and time. In one variant, in the case that one or moreL-SIMs are eSIM(s) from eUICC(s), wireless carrier networks configuredin the eSIM(s), may be used for selection. When an eSIM, which is a SIMprofile, is added, changed or deleted in the eUICC(s), the starter SIMselection policy will take into account of the modification.

When geolocation of WCD is used for starter SIM selection policy,longitude and latitude information based on GPS information obtainedfrom a GPS receiver at WCD 100 may be used to look-up for availablewireless carrier networks at the geographical location of WCD 100.

When a SIM is selected based on the position of SIM placed in WCD 100, aSIM that is positioned first will be selected first. For example, SIMsplaced in WCD 100 may be positioned in a numerical or alphabeticalorder.

For example, when a SIM is selected based on the tariff price, a SIMwith the lowest tariff may be selected. It is possible that wirelesscarrier networks may change tariffs. A SIM with the lowest tariff may nolonger be the SIM with the lowest tariff. Therefore, the processing unitof WCD 100, may monitor the tariff price information from time to timeand whenever a change in tariff is detected, the processing unitredetermines on which SIM having the lowest tariff price.

A SIM may also be selected based on billing cycle information. A billingcycle is the period of a cellular subscription for communicationservice. A billing cycle may be weekly, monthly or yearly. In oneexample scenario, where using billing cycle information may bebeneficial is, data usage limit per billing cycle may be capped andexceeding the allowed data usage limit may incur high premiums.Therefore, when a SIM is selected based on billing cycle information,the SIM for which data usage limit of a billing cycle is about to reach,may not be selected.

A SIM may also be selected based on the time of a day. There are manyreasons for selecting a SIM based on time, one example may be for thechanges in tariff pricing. Some wireless carrier networks may offerdifferent tariff prices for different times of the day. It is verycommon that wireless carrier networks offer lower tariff rates duringoff-peak periods. Therefore, a SIM from the wireless carrier networkwhich offers the lowest tariff price for a specific time of the day maybe selected when the selection occurs during that specified time period.

A SIM may be selected based on administrator's preference. Anadministrator of WCD 100 or SIM banks 212 may assign priority level toeach SIM. Thus, when selecting a SIM based on the administrator'spreference, a SIM with higher priority assigned will be selected. Anadministrator may assign priority level to a SIM based on differentbases including the conditions of R-SIM selection criteria disclosedherein.

A SIM may also be selected based on service quality of the wirelesscarrier network of a SIM. When selecting a SIM based service quality, aSIM from the wireless carrier network which provides better quality ofservice will be selected. The service quality of a wireless carriernetwork may be evaluated based on different criteria including, but notlimited to, signal strength, network coverage, security and simplicityof configuration.

At process 402, the processing unit 160 assigns an available WCM from aplurality of WCMs 101 to use the starter SIM. An available WCM is a WCMwhich is not assigned to any SIM yet and is operable. For illustrationpurposes, the starter SIM is SIM 112 a and the available WCM is WCM 101a. Processing unit 160 assigns WCM 101 a to SIM 112 a. At process 403,processing unit 160 initiates actions to establish a starter wirelesscarrier connection using WCM 101 a and SIM 112 a. An assigned WCM maybecome un-assigned when it fails to establish a wireless carrierconnection or its established wireless carrier connection isdisconnected.

At process 404, processing unit 160 determines whether the starterwireless carrier connection has been established or not. If the starterwireless carrier connection has not been established, processing unit160 loops back to process 401 and selects another SIM as starter SIMfrom the plurality of L-SIMs and performs processes 401-404. Processes401-404 are iterated until the starter wireless carrier connection issuccessfully established. If each of the plurality of L-SIMs isattempted and the starter wireless carrier connection is notestablished, no further attempt will be performed. Optionally, a messageis sent to its administrator informing that establishing a starterwireless carrier connection has failed and the method is stopped. In onevariant, the loop between processes 401 to 404 will not be performedafter a preset number of iterations has reached or a specific period oftime is reached. In another variant, the method is restarted after apredetermined time interval. The time interval may be set as a defaulttime interval by the manufacturer or may be manually set by theadministrator of the WCD. The message may be displayed on a userinterface (UI) of the WCD.

When the starter wireless carrier connection is established, WCD 100connects a remote SIM bank, for example, SIM bank 212 a by establishinga logical data connection through the starter wireless carrierconnection at process 405. The logical data connection may beestablished using TCP, UDP or other communication protocols. The logicaldata connection with SIM bank 212 a may be used to carry authenticationrequest and authentication information while establishing one or moresubsequent wireless carrier connection(s), thus, the logical dataconnection hereinafter is referred to as starter authenticationconnection.

In process 406, another SIM is selected from available L-SIMs andR-SIMs. An available R-SIM is a SIM in a SIM bank that is not assignedwith a WCM yet. The selection of the another SIM may be performedmanually by an administrator of WCD 100 or maybe be based on a SIMselection policy, which is different from the starter SIM selectionpolicy. The SIM selection policy is similar to the starter SIM selectionpolicy. However, the SIM selection policy may also select R-SIM whilethe starter SIM selection policy does not select R-SIM. The SIMselection policy may have the same or different selection criteria.

At process 407, an available WCM is assigned with the SIM selected atprocess 406 and a wireless carrier connection is established using theSIM selected at process 406 and the assigned WCM. In the course ofestablishing the wireless carrier connection, if the SIM selected atprocess 406 is an R-SIM, authentication request and authenticationinformation related to the R-SIM selected at process 406 are transmittedbetween WCD 100 and SIM bank 212 a using the starter authenticationconnection. On the other hand, if the SIM selected at process 406 is anL-SIM, the starter authentication connection may not be used asauthentication request and authentication information with L-SIM doesnot go through the authentication connection. The starter authenticationconnection may be continued to be used onwards for transmittingauthentication requests and authentication information when required. Inone variant, the starter authentication connection is replaced by areplacement authentication connection, which will be described later.

In one variant, the starter authentication connection is only used forsending and receiving authentication requests and authenticationinformation only. The starter authentication connection is not used forproviding communication services to devices connected to WCD 100. In onevariant, the starter authentication connection is allowed for providingcommunication services to devices connected to WCD 100.

At process 408, the processing unit of WCD 100 determines whether athreshold is reached. When the threshold is reached, the process ends atprocess 409. The threshold may be evaluated based on one or moreconditions including, but not limited to, the number of WCMs being used,the number of R-SIMs being used and/or the total number of WCMs in WCD100.

In one example, when the threshold is based on the number of WCMs beingused, the processing unit of WCD 100 determines whether the number ofWCMs being used is equal to the threshold number of WCMs being used. Ifthe number of WCMs being used is equal to the threshold number of WCMsbeing used, the process ends at process 409. If the number of WCMs beingused is smaller than the threshold number of WCMs being used, theprocessing unit of WCD 100 will go back to process 406 and continue toestablish an additional wireless carrier connection using another SIMand another available WCM. The loop from process 406-408 is iterateduntil the threshold is reached. There is no limitation on how manywireless carrier connections may be established. In one variant, thetotal number of wireless carrier connections to be established is thetotal number of WCMs placed in WCD 100.

In another example, when the threshold is based on the number of SIMsbeing used, the method determines whether the number of SIMs being usedis equal to the threshold. If the number of SIMs being used is equal tothe threshold number of SIMs being used, the method ends. If the numberof SIMs being used is not equal to the threshold number of SIMs beingused, then the method moves back to process 406 for selecting anotherSIM from a plurality of available L-SIMs and R-SIMs and iterates loop406-408 until the threshold is reached.

In one variant, a predetermined time is set to reach the threshold, whenthe threshold is not met within the predetermined time, the method stopslooping back to process 406 and ends. Setting a predetermined time toreach the threshold is beneficial for saving energy and resources. Forexample, in some scenarios, it may happen that the threshold may not bemet because while looping back to process 406 there may be no SIMavailable to select. As a result, the loop from process 406 to process408 may continue running until more SIM(s) are inserted into the SIMbank or the WCD, and waste energy and resources.

FIG. 4B is a process flowchart illustrating a method according to oneexample embodiment of the present invention. The method may be performedat processing unit 160 of WCD 100. FIG. 4B should be viewed inconjunction with FIG. 1A and FIG. 2A. The method begins at process 420.In process 421, the method selects a plurality of available L-SIMs asstarter SIMs. The method illustrated in FIG. 4B is similar to the methodillustrated in FIG. 4A. The selection of the first plurality ofavailable L-SIMs to be starter SIMs may be performed in the same mannerdiscussed in process 401 in FIG. 4A, except that, in this exampleembodiment, multiple SIMs are selected as starter SIMs.

In process 422, each starter SIM of the plurality of starter SIMs isassigned with an available WCM. For example, in FIG. 1A, WCMs 101 a-101c are shown, if WCM 101 a is already in use, the available WCMs are WCM101 b and 101 c.

In process 423, the processing unit of WCD 100 initiates actions toestablish starter wireless carrier connections using the plurality ofstarter SIMs and their corresponding WCMs assigned.

In process 424, the processing unit of WCD 100 determines whether atleast one starter wireless carrier connection has been established ornot. If at least one starter wireless carrier connection is successfullyestablished, the processing unit of WCD 100 will use the at least onestarter wireless carrier connection(s) to connect at least one SIM bank,such as SIM bank 212 a, by establishing at least one starterauthentication connection(s), in process 425.

If, in process 424, it is determined that no starter wireless carrierconnection has been established, the method moves from process 424 backto process 421 and selects another plurality of L-SIMs as starter SIMsfrom available L-SIMs and iterates processes 421-423 until at least onestarter wireless carrier connection is established. The anotherplurality of L-SIMs should not include L-SIMs which have already beenattempted and failed to establish a connection with. In one variant,attempted L-SIMs may be selected again after a certain period of time.In another variant, attempted L-SIMs may be selected again if all theL-SIMs are attempted at least once still no starter wireless carrierconnection is established.

In process 425, if a plurality of starter wireless carrier connection isestablished, the processing unit of WCD 100 may use any one of thestarter wireless carrier connections for connecting a SIM bank byestablishing a starter authentication connection and the other starterwireless carrier connection(s) may be used for data communication. Inone variant, when the use of an L-SIM may incur roaming charges and anauthentication connection is already established using a less expensivewireless carrier connection, the wireless carrier connection of theL-SIM will be disconnected to save cost. In another variant, at leasttwo logical data connections are aggregated together to form anaggregated logical connection for connecting to the SIM bank. Theaggregated logical connection may be used as an authenticationconnection. In one variant, if a plurality of starter wireless carrierconnections is established, the processing unit of WCD 100 may use aplurality of starter wireless carrier connections for connecting to aplurality of SIM banks by establishing a plurality of starterauthentication connections.

In the case that after all L-SIMs are tried and no starter wirelesscarrier connection is established, WCD 100 sends a message to itsadministrator informing that establishing a starter wireless carrierconnection has failed and stops the process. In one variant, the messagemay be displayed on the user interface (UI) of the WCD. In one variant,WCD 100 stops the method without sending the message.

In another variant, a predetermined waiting time is set for establishingat least one starter wireless carrier connection. If no starter wirelesscarrier connection is established after the predetermined waiting time,WCD 100 sends a message to its administrator informing that establishinga starter wireless carrier connection has failed and stops the method.The message may be displayed on a user interface (UI) of the WCD. Inanother variant, the method is restarted after a predetermined timeinterval. The time interval may be set as a default time interval by themanufacturer or maybe manually set by the administrator of WCD 100.

In process 426, the processing unit of WCD 100 selects another pluralityof SIMs from available L-SIMs and R-SIMs as SIMs. However, it ispreferable that when R-SIMs are selected in process 426, the R-SIMs areselected only from available R-SIMs which are provided by local wirelesscarrier networks in order to avoid roaming charges. The selection of theSIMs at process 426 may be performed in the same manner discussed inprocess 406 of FIG. 4A, however in this example embodiment, a pluralityof SIMs is selected. In another variant, R-SIMs have higher prioritythan L-SIMs to be selected at process 426.

In process 427, the processing unit of WCD 100 assigns a correspondingavailable WCM with each of the plurality of SIMs selected at process 426and establishes wireless carrier connections using the plurality of SIMsselected at process 426 and the corresponding WCMs. In the course ofestablishing the wireless carrier connections, authentication requestsand authentication information regarding the L-SIMs and R-SIMs arecommunicated according to the same process as described earlier inprocess 407 of FIG. 4A.

In process 428, the processing unit of WCD 100 determines whether athreshold is reached. When the threshold is reached, the method proceedsto process 429 and ends. The threshold may be evaluated in the sameprocess as discussed in process 408 of FIG. 4A. When the threshold isnot reached, the method loops back to process 426 and selects anotherplurality of SIMs from available L-SIMs and R-SIMs then iteratesprocesses 427-428. Processes 426-428 are iterated until the threshold isreached.

In one variant, WCD 100 may connect to a plurality of SIM banks atprocess 425. WCD 100 may connect to each SIM bank of the plurality ofSIM banks by establishing one or more logical data connection(s) throughone or more wireless carrier connection(s). When WCD 100 connects to aSIM bank through a plurality of logical data connections, the pluralityof logical data connections may be carried by a plurality of wirelesscarrier connections. Therefore, WCD 100 may establish a plurality ofaggregated logical data connections for connecting to the plurality ofSIM banks.

In one variant, a SIM bank management server is used to manage theplurality of SIM banks. For example, a SIM bank management server 216shown in FIG. 2A. WCD 100 may communicate with SIM bank managementserver 216 first for accessing the SIM banks. Before communicating withSIM bank management server 216, WCD 100 may not have the accessinformation of one or more SIM banks 212. After having the accessinformation of SIM banks 212, WCD 100 is then able to communicate withSIM banks 212.

The embodiments described in FIG. 4A and 4B are applicable forestablishing a plurality of wireless carrier connections in anygeographical area where the WCD is being used regardless of whether theWCD is being used in its home geographical area in a visitedgeographical area (i.e. foreign geographical area). The homegeographical area is the geographical area where the user/subscriber hastheir wireless carrier account. The visited or foreign geographical areais the geographical area where the user's or subscriber's WCD is nototherwise considered local. For illustration purposes only, applicationof the embodiment described in FIG. 4A, in home location and in avisited location, is demonstrated in the following paragraphs.

In one example scenario, WCD 100 is being used in its home geographicalarea. There may be a plurality of wireless carrier networks available inits home geographical area. For example, wireless carrier networks 201a-201 c are available in the home geographical area. WCD 100 may accessthe wireless carrier networks using SIMs from the respective wirelesscarrier networks. The SIMs may be placed in WCD 100 or in one or moreremote SIM banks. For illustration purposes, L-SIMs 111 and 112 areplaced in WCD 100, and R-SIMs 113 are placed in one or more SIM banks212, for example in SIM bank 212 a. Also, for illustration purpose, aneSIM, such as eSIM 111 a from eUICC 116 a and eSIM 111 b from eUICC 116b, are from wireless carrier network 201 a and 201 b respectively, andL-SIMs 112 a and 112 b are from wireless carrier network 201 c. R-SIMs113 a and 113 b are from wireless carrier network 201 a and wirelesscarrier network 201 b respectively. In one variant, R-SIM 113 a may beplaced in SIM bank 212 a and R-SIM 113 b may be placed in SIM bank 212b. Alternatively, both of the R-SIMs 113 a and 113 b may be placed inSIM bank 212 b. There is no limitation on the number of SIMs that can beplaced in a SIM bank.

Continuing with this exemplary scenario, eSIM 111 a is selected as thestarter SIM for establishing a starter wireless carrier connection usinga WCM, for example, WCM 101 a. As a result, a starter wireless carrierconnection is established through wireless carrier network 201 a. WCD100 then connects SIM bank 212 a through the starter wireless carrierconnection by establishing a starter authentication connection throughthe starter wireless carrier connection. The starter wireless carrierconnection may be reserved for carrying authentication requests andauthentication information or may also be used for data communication byestablishing more logical data connections. After establishing thestarter authentication connection, another SIM is selected fromavailable L-SIMs and R-SIMs for establishing another wireless carrierconnection. The selection of the another SIM may be performed manuallyby an administrator of WCD 100 or maybe be based on a SIM selectionpolicy

For example, R-SIM 113 b is selected from SIM bank 212 a and WCM 101 bis assigned with R-SIM 113 b. Then another wireless carrier connectionis established using R-SIM 113 b and WCM 101 b through wireless carriernetwork 201 b.

Continuing with this exemplary scenario, when establishing the wirelesscarrier connection using R-SIM 113 b, wireless carrier network 201 b maysend a request for authentication information to WCM 101 b regardingR-SIM 113 b. The authentication request is then forwarded by WCD 100 toSIM bank 212 a through the starter authentication connection. SIM bank212 a replies to the authentication request by providing authenticationinformation regarding R-SIM 113 b and sends the authenticationinformation to WCD 100. WCD 100 forwards the reply sent by SIM bank 212a to the authentication request to wireless carrier network 201 b. Basedon the authentication information provided in the reply, wirelesscarrier network 201 b may then accept or refuse R-SIM 113 b forestablishing the wireless carrier connection.

If accepted, the wireless carrier connection using R-SIM 113 b will beestablished. If refused, the establishment of the wireless carrierconnection using R-SIM 113 b fails and WCD 100 may select another R-SIM,for example, R-SIM 113 a and attempts to establish a wireless carrierconnection over wireless carrier network 201 a following the sameprocess.

For illustration purposes, the wireless carrier connection using R-SIM113 b has been successfully established. After that, the starterwireless carrier connection may optionally be disconnected and areplacement authentication connection is established through thewireless carrier connection established using R-SIM 113 b. When thestarter wireless carrier connection is disconnected, WCM 101 a may beunassigned from eSIM 111 a and become available to be assigned withanother SIM to establish another wireless carrier connection. In thecase that the another SIM is an R-SIM, the replacement authenticationconnection may be used for carrying authentication information andauthentication requests. In the case that the another SIM, is an L-SIM,there is no need for an authentication connection, as local SIMs areplaced in the WCD and the authentication information regarding localSIMs can be accessed directly.

After successful establishment of the wireless carrier connection usingR-SIM 113 b, the processing unit of WCD 100 determines whether athreshold is reached. When a threshold is reached the process ends andthe wireless carrier connections are used for data communications whichis described later. On the other hand, if the threshold is not reached,the processing unit of WCD 100 keeps establishing another wirelesscarrier connection using another L-SIM or R-SIM until the threshold isreached.

In another exemplary scenario, WCD 100 is being used in a visitedgeographical area. Wireless carrier networks 201 a-201 c may not beavailable in the visited geographical area. For example, wirelesscarrier networks P, Q, R, S are available in the visited geographicalarea. However, WCD 100 may still place SIMs from wireless carriernetworks 201 a-201 c and does not have any SIMs from wireless carriernetworks P, Q, R and S.

For example, eSIMs 111 a and 111 b are from wireless carrier network 201a and wireless carrier network 201 b respectively, and L-SIMs 112 a and112 b are from wireless carrier network 201 c. R-SIM 113 a is fromwireless carrier network 201 a and R-SIM 113 b is from wireless carriernetwork P. Different from the previous exemplary scenario where both ofR-SIMs 113 were from wireless carrier networks of home geographicalarea, in this exemplary scenario, R-SIM 113 a is from a wireless carriernetwork of home geographical area and R-SIM 113 b is from wirelesscarrier network of the visited geographical area. Each of the SIM banks212 may place SIMs from different wireless carrier networks of differentgeographical areas. For illustration purposes, R-SIMs 113 a and 113 bare placed in SIM bank 212 a. In one variant, the SIM banks may bemanaged through a SIM bank management server.

For example, eSIM 111 a is selected as the starter SIM and WCM 101 a isassigned with it. As eSIM 111 a is from wireless carrier network 201 aand WCD 100 is in a visited geographical area, eSIM 111 a is now aforeign SIM as it's not from a local wireless carrier network of thevisited geographical area. WCD 100 then initiates establishing a starterwireless carrier connection using eSIM 111 a and WCM 101 a. Forestablishing the starter wireless carrier connection, WCD 100 firstgenerates a request for data connection using authentication informationof eSIM 111 a. The request for data connection may be received by one ormore local wireless carrier networks of the visited geographical area.For example, wireless carrier network Q has received the request fordata connection. In one variant, the request for data connection may bemechanically generated by WCD 100 when it opens or enters in the visitedgeographical area.

If wireless carrier networks 201 a and Q have a roaming agreement, thenwireless carrier network Q may check the validity of the authenticationinformation provided by communicating with wireless carrier network 201a and decide on whether to provide Internet access to WCD 100 based onthe authentication information. If the authentication information isvalid, then the starter wireless carrier connection will be established.

If the authentication information is not valid, wireless carrier networkQ may not provide Internet access to WCD 100 and the establishment ofthe starter wireless carrier connection may be failed. WCD 100 may againtry to establish wireless carrier connection following the same processusing another L-SIM from a different wireless carrier network, forexample, using L-SIM 112 a from wireless carrier network 201 c. Forillustration purposes, the starter wireless carrier connection usingeSIM 111 a is successfully established.

Since the starter wireless carrier connection is established using eSIM111 a and eSIM 111 a is from wireless carrier network 201 a which is anon-local wireless carrier network of the visited geographical area, asa result, data communication using the starter wireless carrierconnection will involve roaming charges.

Therefore, after successful establishment of the starter wirelesscarrier connection, WCD 100 connects with a remote SIM bank, forexample, SIM bank 212 a, by establishing a starter authenticationconnection through the starter wireless carrier connection. An R-SIM isthen selected from SIM bank 212 a. It should be noted that, in thisexemplary scenario, after establishing the starter authenticationconnection, the subsequent SIMs (SIMs that are selected after theestablishment of the starter wireless carrier connection) are selectedonly from available R-SIMs based on the SIM selection policy unlike tothe previous exemplary scenario where the subsequent SIMs were selectedfrom available L-SIMs and R-SIMs. This is due to avoid roaming charges,as in this exemplary scenario, WCD 100 is being used in a visitedgeographical area, therefore, using of L-SIMs may involve roamingcharges since the L-SIMs are from the wireless carrier networks of homegeographical area. The selection of R-SIM may be performed by aprocessing unit of WCD 100, SIM bank 212 a or SIM bank management server216. When the selection is performed by the processing unit of SIM bank212 a or SIM bank management server 216, after selecting an R-SIM, theselection information is sent to WCD 100. The processing unit of WCD 100then assigns the selected R-SIM with an available WCM. For example,R-SIM 113 b is selected and is assigned with WCM 101 b.

The SIM selection policy may be based on one or more of the followingcriteria: position of an R-SIM placed in a SIM bank, R-SIM category,tariff price of an R-SIM, network's performance history of a SIM,services offered by the wireless carrier network of an R-SIM, servicequality of the wireless carrier network of an R-SIM, administrator'spreference, geolocation of WCD 100, billing cycle information and time.For example, when an R-SIM is selected based on the geolocation of WCD100, the R-SIM should be selected from a local wireless carrier networkcorresponding to the current location of or wireless carrier networksavailable at WCD 100. In this case, R-SIM 113 b is selected as it isfrom wireless carrier network P which is a local wireless carriernetwork of the visited geographical area.

For illustration purposes, R-SIM 113 b is from wireless carrier networkP. When establishing the wireless carrier connection using R-SIM 113 b,wireless carrier network P may send a request to WCM 101 b forauthentication information regarding R-SIM 113 b. The authenticationrequest is then forwarded by WCD 100 to SIM bank 212 a through thestarter authentication connection. SIM bank 212 a replies to theauthentication request by providing authentication information regardingR-SIM 113 b to WCD 100. The authentication information may also includeother information depending on the requirements. WCD 100 forwards theauthentication information to wireless carrier network P as a reply tothe authentication request. Based on the authentication informationprovided in the reply, wireless carrier network P may accept or refusethe establishment of the wireless carrier connection using R-SIM 113 b.

If accepted, the wireless carrier connection over wireless carriernetwork P is successfully established. If refused, the establishment ofthe wireless carrier connection using R-SIM 113 b fails. After that,another R-SIM may be selected and attempted to establish a wirelesscarrier connection using it according to the same processes as disclosedabove.

For illustration purposes, wireless carrier connection using R-SIM 113 bis successfully established. The processing unit of WCD 100 thendetermines whether a threshold is reached. When a threshold is reachedthe process ends and wireless carrier connections are used for datacommunications which is described later. On the other hand, if thethreshold is not reached, the processing unit of WCD 100 keepsestablishing another wireless carrier connection using another R-SIMuntil the threshold is reached.

In one variant, after successful establishment of the wireless carrierconnection using R-SIM 113 b, the starter wireless carrier connection isretained standby and not used or disconnected in order to reduce roamingcharges and save resources. In that case, a replacement authenticationconnection is established through the wireless carrier connectionestablished using R-SIM 113 b for transmitting authenticationinformation and authentication requests.

There is no limitation on the number of SIM banks may be utilized. Whenone SIM bank is used for placing all R-SIMs, the SIM bank may be placedin a centralized location, for example, in the home geographical area ofthe WCD and may place SIMs from different wireless carrier networks ofthe home geographical area and foreign geographical area. If multipleSIM banks are used, some of the SIM banks may be placed in the homegeographical area and some may be placed in different foreigngeographical areas. When SIM banks are placed in different foreigngeographical areas, each SIM bank may place SIMs from the local wirelesscarrier networks of the corresponding geographical area. For example,SIM bank 212 a may be placed in the home geographical area of WCD 100and places SIMs from different local wireless carrier networks of thehome geographical area. On the other hand, SIM bank 212 b may be placedin a foreign geographical area and has SIMs from different localwireless carrier networks of the foreign geographical area.

In one variant, there is no restriction that an authenticationconnection must also be used for data communication when not being usedto communicate SIM authentication information. For example, theauthentication connection may be used for data communication, such asweb browsing and file transfer, when the bandwidth provided bynon-authentication connection(s) is not adequate or below a threshold.When the bandwidth provided by the non-authentication connection(s) isadequate or above the threshold, the authentication connection will notbe used for data communication. In another example, when WCD 100 isbeing used in a foreign country or may incur roaming charges, theauthentication connection will not be used for data communication unlessthere is no other wireless carrier connection could be established. Thismay reduce roaming charges.

In one variant, the authentication connection is also used for dataconnection without any limitation. After the establishment of the seconddata connection, the first and the second data connection may also beused to carry authentication information for establishing additionalwireless carrier connections, such as the third data connection and soon.

In one variant, any wireless carrier connection or a plurality ofwireless carrier connections may be used to carry for establishing oneor more authentication connections. There is also no limitation on thenumber of connections to be used as an authentication connection, anyone or more established data connections may be used as authenticationconnection(s).

In one variant, only the first data connection established using thestarter SIM is used as an authentication connection. In another variant,WCD 100 is being used in a foreign country the data connectionestablished using the starter SIM is disconnected after successfullyestablishing the second wireless carrier connection in order to avoidroaming charges and the second data connection is used as authenticationconnection. In another variant, both the first and the second dataconnections are used as authentication connections.

The process flowcharts illustrated by FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C are to allowWCD 100 to use one or more R-SIMs to provide communication service todevices and users over wireless carrier networks but not the starterwireless carrier network. The starter wireless carrier network may notbe the most preferred wireless carrier network to use in terms oftariffs, network performance, time and location. Therefore, once thestarter wireless carrier connection is established, the processing unitof WCD 100 starts trying to establish other wireless carrier connectionsto replace starter wireless carrier connection or to reduce the usage ofthe starter wireless carrier connection. FIG. 5A is a process flowchartillustrating a method according to one example embodiment of the presentinvention. The method may be performed at processing unit 160 of WCD100.

FIG. 5A should be viewed in conjunction with FIG. 1A, FIG. 2A and FIG.4A. FIG. 5A may also be viewed in conjunction with FIG. 1A, FIG. 2A andFIG. 4B. After process 408 or process 427, there should be at least twowireless carrier connections established with at least two wirelesscarrier networks.

For clarity, the authentication connection over a wireless carriernetwork using the starter SIM is referred to as the starterauthentication connection, and the wireless carrier network is referredto as the starter wireless carrier network. For example, the processingunit has used a starter SIM to establish a wireless carrier connectionwith wireless carrier network 201 c. Then the processing unit of WCD 100may connect to SIM bank 212 a through a logical data connection overwireless carrier network 201 c to carry authentication requests andauthentication information. Therefore, wireless carrier network 201 c isthe starter wireless carrier network; the wireless carrier connectionestablished with wireless carrier network 201 c is the starter wirelesscarrier connection; and the logical data connection is referred to asthe starter authentication connection.

FIG. 5A is a process flowchart illustrating a method according to oneexample embodiment of the present invention. The processes in FIG. 5Aillustrates how the starter authentication connection is replaced by areplacement authentication connection. Under different circumstances,there may be one or more motivations not to continue to use the starterauthentication connection over the starter wireless carrier network. Themotivations may include: the network performance of the starter wirelesscarrier network is not adequate; the cost of using the starter wirelesscarrier network is expensive; the availability of the starter wirelesscarrier network is not stable. By using a replacement authenticationconnection over a replacement wireless carrier connection, which isestablished using an R-SIM with a wireless carrier network, may enjoybetter network performance, lower tariffs and/or more stable networkavailability.

At process 501, the processing unit of WCD 100 selects one wirelesscarrier network that is already connected to using an R-SIM to be thereplacement wireless carrier network. For illustration purposes, WCD 100has already established one wireless carrier connection with wirelesscarrier network 201 a using an R-SIM from SIM bank 212 a, and selectswireless carrier network 201 a to be the replacement wireless carriernetwork. The wireless carrier connection established with thereplacement wireless carrier network becomes the replacement wirelesscarrier connection. For illustration purposes, SIM bank 212 a is the SIMbank that the starter authentication connected to.

At process 502, the processing unit of WCD 100 then establishes alogical data connection, over the replacement wireless carrierconnection, with SIM bank 212 a. The logical data connection thenbecomes the replacement authentication connection.

At process 503, the processing unit of WCD 100 then starts using thereplacement authentication connection to carry SIM authenticationrequests and SIM authentication information that is originally carriedthrough the starter authentication connection.

At process 504, the processing unit of WCD 100 disconnects the starterwireless carrier connection established over wireless carrier network201 c. It is preferred that the processing unit of WCD 100 disconnectsthe starter authentication connection gracefully before disconnectingthe starter wireless carrier connection. When the starter wirelesscarrier connection is disconnected, the starter authenticationconnection will also be terminated. Once the starter wireless carrierconnection is disconnected, there will be no more connection with thewireless carrier network 201 c. This may be cost-saving if wirelesscarrier network 201 c has more expensive tariffs than wireless carriernetwork 201 a using the R-SIM.

At process 505, the processing unit of WCD 100 may start to or continueto transmit and receive data packets through a plurality of logical dataconnections using the remaining wireless carrier connections. Theremaining wireless carrier connections are connections alreadyestablished with wireless carrier networks, excluding the replacementwireless carrier connection. For example, when there is a plurality ofwireless carrier connections established before process 501, onewireless carrier connection of the plurality of wireless carrierconnections has become the replacement wireless carrier connection andthe rest of the plurality of wireless carrier connections are remainingwireless carrier connections. By only using logical data connectionsover the remaining wireless carrier connections to transmit datapackets, not related to authentication, allows the replacement wirelesscarrier connection to be exclusively to carry the replacementauthentication connection. This may improve stability and speed of thereplacement authentication connection compared to allowing other logicaldata connections to be established over the replacement wireless carrierconnection.

In one variant, other logical data connections are allowed to beestablished over the replacement wireless carrier connection. This mayincrease data throughput between WCD 100 and interconnected networks217.

In one variant, process 504 is not performed. Therefore, the starterwireless carrier connection will still be available. The starterwireless carrier connection may still be used to carry the starterauthentication connection. This may improve the network performancebetween WCD 100 and SIM bank 212 a. The starter wireless carrierconnection may also be used to carry other logical data connections.This may improve the network performance between WCD 100 andinterconnected networks 217.

In one variant, after the starter wireless carrier network isdisconnected at process 504, the processing unit of WCD 100 willestablish a wireless carrier connection using the WCM that wasoriginally used for the starter wireless carrier network with an R-SIM.Then logical data connections and/or an authentication connection may beestablished over this newly established wireless carrier connection. Asa result, the overall network performance of WCD 100 may improve.

FIG. 5B is a process flowchart illustrating a method according to oneexample embodiment of the present invention. The method may be performedat processing unit 160 of WCD 100. FIG. 5B should be viewed inconjunction with FIG. 1A, FIG. 2A and FIG. 4A. FIG. 5B may also beviewed in conjunction with FIG. 1A, FIG. 2A and FIG. 4B. After process408 or process 427, there should be at least two wireless carrierconnections established with at least two wireless carrier networks.

The method illustrated in FIG. 5B is similar to the method illustratedin FIG. 5A. In the method illustrated in FIG. 5B, a plurality ofwireless carrier connections, which are already established withrespective wireless carrier networks using a plurality of L-SIMs and/orR-SIMs, to be the replacement wireless carrier connections. In themethod illustrated in FIG. 5A, there is one replacement wireless carrierconnection.

At process 511, the processing unit of WCD 100 selects a plurality ofwireless carrier networks, which are already connected to using aplurality of L-SIMs and/or R-SIMs, to be the replacement wirelesscarrier networks. For illustration purpose, WCD 100 has alreadyestablished a wireless carrier connection with wireless carrier network201a using an R-SIM from SIM bank 212 a; a wireless carrier connectionwith wireless carrier network 201 b using an R-SIM from SIM bank 212 b;and a wireless carrier connection with wireless carrier network 201 cusing an L-SIM. Also for illustration purposes, the processing unit ofWCD 100 selects wireless carrier networks 201 a and 201 b to be thereplacement wireless carrier network; wireless carrier network 201 c isthe starter wireless carrier network; the wireless carrier connectionestablished with wireless carrier network 201 c is the starter wirelesscarrier connection; and SIM bank 212 a is the SIM bank that the starterauthentication connection connected to. Wireless carrier connectionsestablished with the replacement wireless carrier networks, i.e.wireless carrier networks 201 a and 201 b, become the replacementwireless carrier connections.

At process 512, the processing unit of WCD 100 then establishes twological data connections through the replacement wireless carrierconnections established over the replacement wireless carrier networks201 a and 201 b, with SIM bank 212 a. The logical data connections thenbecome the replacement authentication connections.

At process 513, the processing unit of WCD 100 then starts using the tworeplacement authentication connections to carry SIM authenticationrequests and SIM authentication information that are originally carriedthrough the starter authentication connection.

At process 514, the processing unit of WCD 100 disconnects the starterwireless carrier connection established using wireless carrier network201 c. It is preferred that the processing unit of WCD 100 disconnectsthe starter authentication connection gracefully before disconnectingthe starter wireless carrier connection. When the starter wirelesscarrier connection is disconnected, the starter authenticationconnection will also be terminated. Once the starter wireless carrierconnection is disconnected, there will be no more connection withwireless carrier network 201 c.

At process 515, the processing unit of WCD 100 may start to or continueto transmit and receive data packets through a plurality of logical dataconnections using the remaining wireless carrier connections.

In one variant, the replacement authentication connections areaggregated together to form an aggregated authentication connection. Theaggregated authentication connection may be an aggregated tunnel thatcomprises a plurality of tunnels. Each tunnel of the plurality tunnel isestablished over a replacement wireless carrier connection. There is nolimitation on the number of authentication connections or tunnels thatmay be established over a replacement wireless carrier connection. Forexample, one replacement authentication tunnel with SIM bank 212 a andone replacement authentication tunnel with SIM bank 212 b may beestablished over a wireless carrier connection with wireless carriernetwork 201 b.

In one variant, process 514 is not performed. Therefore, the starterwireless carrier connection will still be available. The starterwireless carrier connection may also be used to carry other logical dataconnections. The starter wireless carrier connection may continue to bean authentication connection.

In one variant, after the starter wireless carrier network isdisconnected at process 514, the processing unit of WCD 100 willestablish a wireless carrier connection using the WCM that wasoriginally used for the starter wireless carrier network with an R-SIM.Then logical data connections and/or an authentication connection may beestablished over this newly established wireless carrier connection.

FIG. 5C illustrates one example embodiment for managing authenticationconnections over wireless carrier networks after at least onereplacement authentication connection is established, over at least onereplacement wireless carrier network. At process 531, the processingunit of WCD 100 establishes a starter authentication connection over astarter wireless carrier network. At process 532, the processing unit ofWCD 100 establishes a first replacement authentication connection over afirst replacement wireless carrier network. The first replacementwireless carrier network is a wireless carrier network firstly connectedand used to connect to the SIM bank, which is the SIM bank that thestarter authentication connection connects to.

At process 533, the processing unit of WCD 100 disconnects the starterwireless carrier network and therefore the starter authenticationconnection is also disconnected. When the starter authenticationconnection is disconnected, authentication requests and authenticationinformation are carried using the first replacement authenticationconnection. At process 534, the processing unit of WCD 100 establishes asecond replacement authentication connection over a second replacementwireless carrier network. The second replacement wireless carriernetwork is a wireless carrier network connected and used to connect tothe SIM bank after the first replacement wireless carrier network. Thesecond replacement wireless carrier network may be any of thereplacement wireless carrier networks except the first replacementwireless carrier network and starter wireless carrier network. Theprocessing unit of WCD 100 uses the second replacement authenticationconnection to connect to the same SIM bank that the starterauthentication connection connects to and the first replacementauthentication connection connects to.

At process 535, the processing unit of WCD 100 disconnects the firstreplacement wireless carrier network and therefore the first replacementauthentication connection is also disconnected.

The details of establishing the starter authentication connection andthe replacement authentication connections have been already disclosedin earlier embodiments of the present invention. Further, the details ofusing L-SIM and R-SIMs for establishing wireless carrier connectionswith wireless carrier networks have also been already disclosed inearlier embodiments of the present invention. For example, the starterwireless carrier network may be connected to using an L-SIM while thefirst and the second wireless carrier networks may be connected to usingR-SIMs. The WCM used for using the L-SIM to connect to the starterwireless carrier network may be reused for the R-SIM to connect to thesecond replacement wireless carrier network.

There is no limitation that process 534 must be performed after process533. For example, process 534 may be performed before process 533.Further process 533 may be performed after process 535.

In one variant, when there is a plurality of replacement wirelesscarrier networks, the processing unit of WCD 100 may establish aplurality of replacement authentication connections at process 534.

In one variant, transmitting and receiving of data by devices, such asIoT 204 and laptop 206, connected directly or through a LAN to WCD 100may be started after the starter wireless carrier connection isestablished. This allows the devices to communicate with hosts reachablethrough interconnected networks 217 as soon as possible. In one variant,transmitting and receiving of data by devices may be limited or notallowed through the starter wireless carrier connection. Transmittingand receiving of data by the devices may be started only after the firstreplacement authentication connection over the first replacementwireless carrier network is established at process 532, in order toreduce the use of the starter wireless carrier connection. This mayreduce tariffs and/or roaming charges imposed by the starter wirelesscarrier or improving network performance. The use of R-SIMs at the SIMbanks may reduce tariffs and/or roaming charges as the R-SIMs selectedmay not incur roaming charges and may offer better network performance.In one variant, transmitting and receiving of data by devices may belimited or not allowed through the starter wireless carrier connectionand/or the first replacement authentication connection. Transmitting andreceiving of data by the devices may be started only after the secondreplacement wireless carrier connection over the second replacementwireless carrier network is established at process 534, in order toreduce the use of the starter wireless carrier connection and/or thefirst replacement wireless carrier connection. In addition to thepossibility of reducing tariffs and/or roaming charges imposed by thestarter wireless carrier network, performance may be improved and moreflexibility on selecting wireless carrier networks may be achieved.

FIG. 6 is a process flowchart illustrating a method according to oneembodiment of the present invention. The processing unit of WCD 100 isused to determine when to disconnect a logical data connection andestablish a new logical data connection. FIG. 6 should be viewed inconjunction with FIG. 1A and FIG. 2A. In process 601, The processingunit of WCD 100 establishes a plurality of logical data connectionsthrough one or more wireless carrier connections. The one or morewireless carrier connections may be established over one or morewireless carrier networks according to any of the methods described inFIG. 4A and 4B. In one variant, one or more of the logical dataconnections may also be established through one or more wired networkconnections established through one or more wide area network (WAN)interfaces of WCD 100.

In process 602, the processing unit of WCD 100 allows datacommunications through the plurality of logical data connectionsestablished through the one or more wireless carrier connections. Forillustration purposes, data communications may be performed between ahost connected directly or through a local area network to WCD 100 andanother host reachable via interconnected networks 217. For example, ahost connected to WCD 100 may be laptop 206 or IoT device 204 andanother host reachable via interconnected network 217 may be web server208, SIM banks 212, SIM bank management server 216, eSIM server 214, ora host connected to the network node 210. In one variant, the pluralityof logical data connections may be aggregated to form an aggregatedtunnel.

In process 603, the processing unit of WCD 100 monitors the one or morewireless carrier connections for satisfaction criteria. The satisfactioncriteria may include, but not limited to, connection type, tariff cost,latency, bandwidth and network congestion. In process 604, theprocessing unit of WCD 100 determines whether there is any wirelesscarrier connection(s) not satisfying the satisfaction criteria. When thedetermination result is “No”, indicating the satisfaction criteria aremet, “No” branch is followed and processes 603-604 are iterated. In onevariant, the processing unit of WCD 100 waits for a predetermined timebefore each iteration of loop 603-604, as this would help to reduce theprocessing workload of the processor and save energy and resources. Ifin process 604, the result is “Yes”, indicating satisfaction criteriaare not met, “Yes” branch is followed and process 605 is performed.

In process 605, the processing unit of WCD 100 disconnects the wirelesscarrier connection(s) not fulfilling the satisfaction criteria. However,in some example scenarios, it is possible that all wireless carrierconnections are failing to fulfill the satisfaction criteria, in suchcases, one wireless carrier connection is retained operational while therest of the wireless carrier connections are disconnected. It ispreferable that comparatively the best performing wireless carrierconnection is retained operative.

In one variant, each item of the satisfaction criteria may be assignedwith a priority level that is configured by an administrator or a userof WCD 100. For example, when tariff cost is given top priority, theconnection(s) with high tariff cost should be disconnected first. If allthe wireless carrier connections fail to fulfill at least one criterionof the satisfaction criteria, the wireless carrier connection having theleast priority level should be retained operative.

In process 606, the processing unit of WCD 100 establishes a replacementwireless carrier connection each of the disconnected wireless carrierconnections. After establishing the replacement wireless carrierconnection(s), the processing unit of WCD 100 establishes anotherlogical data connection of the plurality of logical data connectionsthrough the replacement wireless carrier connection(s) at process 601.The another plurality of logical data connections then may be used fordata communication in process 602. In one variant, a replacementwireless carrier connection is established for each of the wirelesscarrier connections not satisfying the satisfaction criteria even thoughit is not disconnected. Processes 605 and 606 may be performedinterchangeably. As such, replacement wireless carrier connection(s) maybe established at process 606 before disconnecting the wireless carrierconnections at process 605.

FIG. 7 is a progress flowchart illustrating one embodiment of thepresent invention. At process 701, a starter SIM is used with one ofWCMs of WCD 100 and the WCM is referred to as the first WCM as it is thefirst WCM used sequentially. The starter SIM may be an L-SIM, R-SIM or aroaming R-SIM. It is known that a roaming SIM is a SIM card that iscapable of operation on more than one network. A roaming R-SIM, asreferred in this present invention, is an R-SIM placed in a SIM bank andis capable of operating on more than one wireless carrier network. Ifthere is no logical data connection able to be established with a SIMbank or SIM bank management server, the starter SIM should be an L-SIMas WCD 100 could not be able to use an R-SIM.A starter authenticationconnection is established with a SIM bank using the starter SIM with thefirst WCM. In process 702, as an authentication connection is nowestablished, an R-SIM from a SIM bank could be used to establish awireless carrier connection using a second WCM. As the R-SIM is thefirst in sequence, the R-SIM is referred to as the first R-SIM and thewireless carrier connection is referred to as the first wireless carrierconnection. Authentication requests and authentication information maybe transmitted and received through the starter authenticationconnection.

In process 703, a next R-SIM, referred to as the second R-SIM, will beused to establish a second wireless carrier connection using a next WCM,referred to as the third WCM. Authentication requests and authenticationinformation may be transmitted and received through the starterauthentication connection and/or through a replacement authenticationconnection established through the first wireless carrier connection.

In process 704, a (n−1) th R-SIM, will be used to establish a n thwireless carrier connection using a (n−1) th WCM. Authenticationrequests and authentication information may be transmitted and receivedthrough one or a combination of the authentication connectionsestablished through the wireless carrier connections. The processes maycontinue unless n reaches a threshold or n reaches the number of WCMs inWCD 100. As there are usually numerous R-SIMs in a SIM bank and WCD 100may connect to a plurality of SIM banks, the number of R-SIMs availableshould be more than WCMs available. The purpose of these processes is touse as many WCMs as possible.

The authentication connection is not used for transmitting and receivingdata for network devices connected to WCD 100, such as local areanetwork 202, IoT 204 and laptop 206. Data to and from network devicesconnected to WCD 100 is allowed to be transmitted and received throughone or a combination of the (n−1) th data connections.

In one variant, the first m th wireless carrier connections are not usedfor transmitting and receiving data for network devices connected to WCD100. Data to and from network devices connected to WCD 100 is allowed tobe transmitted and received through one or a combination of the (m+1) thto (n−1) th data connections. For illustration purposes, m is five and nis ten, then data to and from network devices connected to WCD 100 isallowed to be transmitted and received through one or a combination ofthe sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth data connections, but not the firstto the fourth wireless carrier connections.

FIG. 8A is a process flowchart that illustrates an R-SIM selection andauthentication process of one exemplary embodiment. When an R-SIM is tobe selected by a SIM bank or processing unit of WCD 100, a SIM selectionpolicy may be used to select an R-SIM. Information may be required forthe SIM selection policy. At process 801, the information for the SIMselection policy is collected by the processing unit of WCD 100.

At process 802, an R-SIM is selected according to the R-SIM selectionprocess, as illustrated in FIG. 3B, based on the information collected.When the R-SIM selection process is performed by SIM bank, theinformation collected will be transmitted to the SIM bank through alogical connection, a plurality of logical connection or an aggregatedlogical connection. The logical connection, the plurality of logicalconnections or the aggregated logical connection may or may not be astarter. For example, the logical data connection connecting to the SIMbank may be a starter authentication connection or a replacementauthentication connection. Information of the selected R-SIM will thenbe sent to WCD 100.

When the R-SIM selection process is performed by the processing unit ofWCD 100, information of a plurality of R-SIMs in at least one SIM bankwill be sent to WCD 100. Then the processing unit of WCD 100 will selectan R-SIM according to the SIM selection policy with the informationcollected.

Once an R-SIM is selected, authentication requests received from thecorresponding wireless carrier network and authentication informationfrom the R-SIM will be transmitted through an authentication connectionestablished between the SIM bank and WCD 100. There is no limitationthat the authentication connection must be a starter or a replacementauthentication connection.

FIG. 8B is a more detailed process flowchart for further exemplaryembodiments of processes 801 and 802. At process 811, the processingunit of WCD 100 identifies available wireless carrier networks by usingat least one WCM of a plurality of WCMs. At process 812, the processingunit of WCD 100 determines signal quality of each of the availablewireless carrier networks identified by the at least one WCM. Theavailability of wireless carrier networks and the corresponding signalquality are then used for the SIM selection policy. In one variant,process 812 is not performed and only the availability of wirelesscarrier networks is used for the SIM selection policy.

At process 813 an R-SIM or a roaming R-SIM is selected based on wirelesscarrier networks that meet the signal quality requirement and furtherbased on the tariffs and/or allowed usage of wireless carrier networks.If the signal quality of an available wireless carrier network does notmeet a signal quality requirement, the available wireless carrier shouldnot be used and R-SIMs and roaming R-SIMs that have to use thatavailable wireless carrier network will not be selected. In one example,when there are two available wireless carrier networks meeting thesignal quality requirement, an R-SIM which uses the wireless carriernetwork with lower tariffs will be selected. For illustration purposes,the two available wireless carrier networks are 201 a and 201 b. Whenwireless carrier network 201 a has lower tariffs than the tariffs ofwireless carrier network 201 b, an R-SIM or a roaming R-SIM which useswireless carrier network 201 a will be selected.

In one variant, there are three available wireless carrier networks 201a-201 c meet the signal quality requirement and WCD 100 has twoavailable WCMs. For illustration purposes, wireless carrier networks 201a and 201 c both have the same tariffs and are less expensive than thewireless carrier network 201 b. Therefore, only R-SIMs and roamingR-SIMs using wireless carrier networks 201 a and/or 201 c will beselected and R-SIMs and roaming R-SIMs using wireless carrier network201 b will not be selected. For roaming R-SIMs that are configurable touse any of the three wireless carrier networks, they may still beselected but will be configured to use wireless carrier networks 201 aand/or 201 c in process 814.

The R-SIM selection process may be performed by the processing unit ofWCD 100, a processing unit of a SIM bank 212 or a processing unit of aSIM bank management server 216. When the R-SIM selection process isperformed by the processing unit of WCD 100, information, such asidentity of the wireless carrier networks, tariffs and allowed usage ofthe R-SIMs and roaming R-SIMs, will be sent to the WCD 100 by theprocessing unit of SIM bank 212 or SIM bank management server 216 forthe processing unit to select. Similarly, when the R-SIM selectionprocess is performed by the processing unit of the SIM bank managementserver, the information will also be sent to SIM bank management server216. In one example, a SIM bank may select a plurality of R-SIMs and/orroaming R-SIMs first, then the processing unit of WCD 100 may select oneor more R-SIMs and/or roaming R-SIMs from the plurality of R-SIMs and/orroaming R-SIMs selected by the SIM bank.

FIG. 8C is a more detailed process flowchart for further exemplaryembodiments of processes 801 and 802. At process 821, the processingunit of WCD 100 identifies its geographical location. Geographicallocation may be determined by using GPS. At process 822, an R-SIM or aroaming R-SIM is selected based on the geographical location informationand is further based on the tariffs and/or data usage allowance. Adatabase or a look-up table may be used to search for wireless carriernetworks that may be used in the geographical location. The database orthe look-up table may be stored in WCD 100, a SIM bank, a plurality ofSIM banks and/or a SIM bank management server. For example, longitudeand latitude information, based on GPS information obtained from a GPSreceiver at WCD 100, may be used to look-up for available wirelesscarrier networks at the geographical location of WCD 100.

Similar to the processes illustrated in FIG. 8B, there is no limitationthat only one R-SIM or roaming R-SIM is selected. For example, aplurality of R-SIMs and/or roaming R-SIMs may be selected.

In one example, based on the GPS location information of WCD 100, adatabase is searched for available wireless carrier networks. Forillustration purposes, the records in the database indicate that thereare two available wireless carrier networks at the location of WCD 100.For example, the two available wireless carrier networks are 201 a and201 b and wireless carrier network 201 a has a lower tariff than thetariffs of wireless carrier network 201 b, thus, an R-SIM or a roamingR-SIM using wireless carrier network 201 a will be selected.

In one variant, there are three available wireless carrier networks 201a-201 c, according to the database records and WCD 100 has two availableWCMs. For illustration purposes, wireless carrier networks 201 a and 201c both have the same tariffs and are less expensive than the tariffs ofwireless carrier network 201 b. Therefore, only R-SIMs and roamingR-SIMs using wireless carrier networks 201 a and/or 201 c will beselected and R-SIMs and roaming R-SIMs using wireless carrier network201 b will not be selected. For roaming R-SIMs that are configurable touse any of the three wireless carrier networks, they may still beselected but will be configured to use wireless carrier networks 201 aand/or 201 c in process 823.

FIG. 8D illustrates a method for configuring WCMs when a roaming R-SIMis selected in processes 813 and 822. When a roaming R-SIM is selected,mobile country code (MCC) and mobile network node (MNC) of the wirelesscarrier network selected will be first determined at process 831 andthen will be sent from SIM bank 212 to WCD 100 over an authenticationconnection in process 832. Then WCD 100 will configure an available WCMwith the MCC and MNC in process 833 to allow the WCM to use the wirelesscarrier network selected. The authentication connection may be a starterauthentication connection, a replacement authentication connection or anaggregated authentication connection. For example, wireless carriernetwork 201 a is the wireless carrier network selected in the USA, thenMCC and MNC of wireless carrier network 201 a will be determined inprocess 831. MCC and MNC will be sent in process 832 and will be used toconfigure an available WCM in process 833. In one variant, MCC and MNCinformation is already stored in WCD 100, and the process unit of WCD100 may be able to determine the MCC and MNC information itself and isnot required to retrieve MCC and MNC information from SIM bank 212.Therefore, process 832 is skipped. One of the benefits of using MCC andMNC is to reduce the process of identifying geographical location of WCD100.

In another detailed example, an access point name (APN) of an R-SIM or aroaming R-SIM may be sent from SIM bank 212 to WCD 100 to allow anavailable WCM to establish a desired connection with a wireless carriernetwork. For example, WCD 100 may be able to access a private networkusing the APN. In one variant, APN information is already stored in WCD100, and WCD 100 may be able to provide the APN itself and is notrequired to retrieve APN information from SIM bank 212.

The R-SIM selection process may be performed by the processing unit ofWCD 100, a processing unit of a SIM bank 212 or a processing unit of aSIM bank management server 216.

In one variant, the SIM selection policy is aimed to diversify the useof wireless carrier networks that meet the selection criteria. Forexample, one R-SIM is needed, three R-SIMs from wireless carriernetworks 201 a-201 c meet the selection criteria respectively and WCD100 has a WCM that has already established a wireless carrier connectionusing an R-SIM from wireless carrier network 201 a. Thus, SIM bank 212will not select the R-SIMs belonging to wireless carrier network 201 aamong the three R-SIMs due to diversification. SIM bank 212 will selectthe R-SIM from either wireless carrier network 201 b or 201 c.

FIG. 9A is a process flowchart illustrating a method performed at WCD100 according to one example embodiment of the present invention.Processes 901 to 908 may be performed solely or jointly at WCD 100, atone or more SIM banks 212, and SIM bank management server 216. Forillustration purposes, the processing unit of WCD 100 performs processes901 to 908. The processes start at process 901. For illustrationpurposes, WCD 100 has three WCMs. Each WCM uses one R-SIM from SIM bank212 a to establish a wireless carrier connection with one of wirelesscarrier networks 201 a-201 c. Therefore, WCD 100 has established threewireless carrier connections. WCD 100 communicates with SIM bank 212 ausing one or more logical data connections established over one or moreof the three wireless carrier connections. At process 902, theprocessing unit of WCD 100 monitors at least one condition associatedwith R-SIMs being used. For example, the at least one condition is lessthan 2% packet drop rate of a wireless carrier connection. Therefore,the processing unit monitors the packet drops rate for each of the threewireless carrier connections.

At process 903, determines whether the at least one condition associatedwith one or more R-SIMs is failed or not. As according to the example,the at least one condition is less than 2% packet drop rate of awireless carrier connection, thus, the at least one condition fails whenthe packet drop rate of a wireless carrier connection is more than 2%.For example, packet drop rate of the wireless carrier connectionestablished with wireless carrier network 201 b has increased to 3%.Therefore, wireless carrier connection established with wireless carriernetwork 201 b fails the at least one condition. For illustrationpurposes, (m+2) R-SIM is used to establish the wireless carrierconnection with wireless carrier network 201 b and therefore becomes afailed R-SIM. A failed R-SIM is an R-SIM used for connecting to thewireless carrier network that failed to satisfy at least one condition.

At process 904, the processing unit of WCD 100 determines if WCD 100 maystill communicate with SIM bank 212 a over the wireless carrierconnections established with wireless carrier networks 201 a and/or 201c. If WCD 100 is able to communicate with SIM bank 212 a through one orboth of the wireless carrier connections established with wirelesscarrier networks 201 a or 201 c, the processing unit of WCD 100 willstop using the failed R-SIM at process 905. The processing unit of WCD100 will select another R-SIM, for example, (m+1) R-SIM to replace thefailed R-SIM at step 906 and start using (m+1) R-SIM at step 907.

If determined at process 904 that there are no other wireless carrierconnections that could be used to communicate with SIM bank 212 a, theprocessing unit may continue to use the wireless carrier connectionestablished with wireless carrier network 201 b and end the processes atprocess 908.

There is no limitation that all the processes in FIG. 9A must beperformed by the processing unit of WCD 100. Some or all of theprocesses could be performed by the processing unit of SIM bank 212and/or SIM bank management server 216. In one example, the condition atstep 902 may be the amount of data usage allowed per R-SIM isapproaching the limit. The process to verify the amount of data usagemay be performed by the processing unit of WCD 100, the processing unitof SIM bank 212 and/or SIM bank management server 216.

In another example, the selection of R-SIM at step 906 may be performedby the processing unit of SIM banks 212 and/or SIM bank managementserver 216.

In one variant, a same wireless carrier network may be used by aplurality of WCMs. For example, WCMs 101 a and 101 b may both connect towireless carrier network 201 b concurrently through correspondingR-SIMs. When the wireless carrier network is performing at a lowerquality, both WCMs 101 a and 101 b may experience the same lower qualityperformance and the corresponding R-SIMs may also fail the condition atprocess 903. Therefore, at process 905, the processing unit of WCD 100will stop using the R-SIMs corresponding to WCMs 101 a and 101 b. Atprocesses 906 and 907, two R-SIMs will be selected and used.

In one variant, the failed R-SIM is a roaming R-SIM. When a conditionassociated with the roaming R-SIM fails, the processing unit of WCD 100or the processing unit of SIM banks 212 may be able to continue to usethe same roaming R-SIM to establish another wireless carrier connectionwith another wireless carrier network. Therefore, processes 905, 906 and907 are replaced by processes 915 to 917 shown in FIG. 9B.

For example, the roaming R-SIM is capable of using wireless carriernetwork 201 a or 201 b, where 201 b was the original wireless carriernetwork that was being used. When WCD 100 is moved to an area that hasno wireless carrier network 201 b coverage, the condition of receivingcoverage may fail at process 903. Therefore, at process 915, theprocessing unit of WCD 100 will disconnect the roaming R-SIM fromwireless carrier network 201 b. At process 916, the processing unit ofWCD 100 will select another wireless carrier network for connecting withthe roaming R-SIM. At process 917, the processing unit of WCD 100 willstart using the roaming R-SIM by establishing another wireless carrierconnection using the roaming R-SIM and the selected wireless carriernetwork. There is no limitation that all the processes in FIG. 9B mustbe performed by the processing unit of WCD 100. Some or all of theprocesses could be performed by the processing unit of SIM bank 212and/or SIM bank management server 216. There is no limitation thatprocesses 915 to 917 are limited to one roaming R-SIM. Processes 915 to917 may also be applied to plurality of roaming R-SIMs. There is also nolimitation that a roaming R-SIM is capable of using only two wirelesscarrier networks. There may be more than two wireless carrier networksfor selection.

In a detailed example, when a roaming R-SIM is selected, mobile countrycode (MCC) and mobile network node (MNC) of the wireless carrier networkselected may be sent from SIM bank 212 to WCD 100 over an authenticationconnection. Then WCD 100 will configure an available WCM with the MCCand MNC to allow the WCM to use the wireless carrier network selected.The authentication connection may be a starter authenticationconnection, a replacement authentication connection or an aggregatedauthentication connection. For example, wireless carrier network 201 ais the wireless carrier network selected in the USA, then MCC and MNC ofwireless carrier network 201 a will be used to configure the availableWCM. In one variant, MCC and MNC information is already stored in WCD100, and WCD 100 may be able to provide the MCC and MNC informationitself and is not required to retrieve MCC and MNC information from SIMbank 212.

In another detailed example, an access point name (APN) of an R-SIM or aroaming R-SIM may be sent from SIM bank 212 to WCD 100 to allow anavailable WCM to establish a desired connection with a wireless carriernetwork. For example, WCD 100 may be able to access a private networkusing the APN. In one variant, APN information is already stored in WCD100, and WCD 100 may be able to provide the APN itself and is notrequired to retrieve APN information from SIM bank 212.

FIG. 10 illustrates maintenance of SIM bank connections when multiplewireless carrier connections are established according to theembodiments. For illustration purposes, a first wireless carrierconnection is established using WCM 1001 and a first SIM over thewireless carrier network of the SIM, wherein the first SIM is a localSIM. At 1021, the processing unit of WCD 100 sends authenticationrequest 1051 through a starter authentication connection establishedwith SIM bank 1010 through the first wireless carrier connection.Wherein authentication request 1051 was initially received at WCD 100from a wireless carrier network and then forwarded to SIM bank 1010 bythe WCD.

At 1022, WCD 100 receives authentication information 1052 through thestarter authentication connection in response to authentication request1051. Wherein authentication information 1052 contains necessaryinformation corresponding to an R-SIM (second SIM) for establishing asecond wireless carrier connection. The processing unit of WCD 100forwards authentication information 1052 to the wireless carrier networkfrom which authentication request 1051 was initially received. Thesecond wireless carrier connection is then successfully establishedusing a WCM from the available WCMs and the second SIM. For example, WCM1002 is used from available WCMs 1002-1004.

After successful establishment of the second wireless carrierconnection, the first wireless carrier connection may be disconnected.Therefore, WCM 1001 becomes available for being used to establishanother wireless carrier connection.

At 1023, the processing unit of WCD 100 sends another authenticationrequest, for example authentication request 1053, to SIM bank 1010.Authentication request 1053 may be sent through a replacementauthentication connection established through the second wirelesscarrier connection. Authentication request 1053 was initially receivedat WCD 100 from a wireless carrier network and then forwarded to SIMbank 1010 by the WCD.

At 1024, WCD 100 receives authentication information 1054 in response toauthentication request 1053 through the replacement authenticationconnection established through the second wireless carrier connection.Wherein authentication information 1054 contains necessary informationcorresponding to an R-SIM (third SIM) for establishing a third wirelesscarrier connection. The processing unit of WCD 100 forwardsauthentication information 1054 to the wireless carrier network fromwhich authentication request 1053 was initially received. The thirdwireless carrier connection is then successfully established using a WCMfrom the available WCMs and the third SIM. For example, WCM 1003 is usedfrom available WCMs 1001, 1003 and 1004.

At 1025, the processing unit of WCD 100 sends another authenticationrequest, for example authentication request 1055, to SIM bank 1010.Authentication request 1055 may be sent through the replacementauthentication connection established through the second wirelesscarrier connection or a replacement authentication connectionestablished through the third wireless carrier connection. Forillustration purposes, authentication request 1055 is sent through thereplacement authentication connection established through the thirdwireless carrier connection. Authentication request 1055 was initiallyreceived at WCD 100 from a wireless carrier network and then forwardedto SIM bank 1010 by the WCD.

At 1026, WCD 100 receives authentication information 1056 in response toauthentication request 1055 through the replacement authenticationconnection established through the third wireless carrier connection.Wherein authentication information 1056 contains necessary informationcorresponding to an R-SIM (fourth SIM) for establishing a fourthwireless carrier connection. The processing unit of WCD 100 forwardsauthentication information 1056 to the wireless carrier network fromwhich authentication request 1055 was initially received. The fourthwireless carrier connection is then successfully established using a WCMfrom the available WCMs and the fourth SIM. For example, WCM 1001 isused from available WCMs 1001 and 1004.

At 1027, the processing unit of WCD 100 sends another authenticationrequest, for example authentication request 1057, to SIM bank 1010.Authentication request 1057 may be sent through the replacementauthentication connection established through the second wirelesscarrier connection, the replacement authentication connectionestablished through the third wireless carrier connection or areplacement authentication connection established through the fourthwireless carrier connection. For illustration purposes, authenticationrequest 1057 is sent through the replacement authentication connectionestablished through the fourth wireless carrier connection.

Authentication request 1057 was initially received at WCD 100 from awireless carrier network and then forwarded to SIM bank 1010 by the WCD.

At 1028, WCD 100 receives authentication information 1058 in response toauthentication request 1057 through the replacement authenticationconnection established through the fourth wireless carrier connection.Wherein authentication information 1058 contains necessary informationcorresponding to an R-SIM (fifth SIM) for establishing a fifth wirelesscarrier connection. The processing unit of WCD 100 forwardsauthentication information 1058 to the wireless carrier network fromwhich authentication request 1057 was initially received. The fifthwireless carrier connection is then successfully established using anavailable WCM, for example, WCM 1004 and the fifth SIM.

There is no limitation that the first wireless carrier connection shouldbe disconnected after the second wireless carrier connection isestablished, it may be disconnected later (e.g. after establishing thethird, fourth, fifth or a following wireless carrier connection) or itmay not be disconnected at all. In one variant, when the first wirelesscarrier connection is not disconnected, authentication request andauthentication information for the third, fourth, fifth or a followingwireless carrier connection may also be carried through the starterauthentication connection established through the first wireless carrierconnection.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for communicating at a wirelesscommunication device, comprising: (a) establishing a starter wirelesscarrier connection using a starter subscriber identification module(SIM); wherein the starter SIM is housed at the wireless communicationdevice; (b) establishing a starter authentication connection with atleast one SIM bank over the starter wireless carrier connection; (c)selecting a plurality of remote SIMs from the at least one SIM bank;wherein: the plurality of remote SIMs are housed at the at least one SIMbank; and the plurality of remote SIMs are selected by a processing unitof the wireless communication device or by a processing unit of the atleast one SIM bank; (d) establishing a plurality of wireless carrierconnections using the plurality of remote SIMs; (e) establishing atleast one replacement authentication connection over the plurality ofwireless carrier connections; (f) providing communication service todevices connected to the wireless communication device over theplurality of wireless carrier connections; and (g) stopping use of thestarter authentication connection and the starter wireless carrierconnection.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the starter authenticationconnection is used to carry authentication request and authenticationinformation.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: when aplurality of replacement authentication connections are established atstep (e), aggregating the plurality of replacement authenticationconnections.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least onereplacement authentication connection is used to carry authenticationrequest and authentication information after the starter authenticationconnection is stopped.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein each remote SIMin the plurality of remote SIMs is selected based on a SIM selectionpolicy at step (c).
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the SIM selectionpolicy is based on at least one of: position of a remote SIM in the atleast one SIM bank, remote SIM category, tariff, performance history,services offered by operator of a remote SIM, service quality,administrator's preference, geolocation of the wireless communicationdevice, billing cycle information, and time.
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein the starter SIM is a roaming SIM.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein the starter SIM is a removable SIM or an electronic SIM (eSIM).9. The method of claim 8, wherein the wireless communication devicecomprises at least one embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card(eUICC) to store profile information of the eSIM.
 10. A system of datacommunication, comprising at least one wireless communication devicefor: (a) establishing a starter authentication connection with at leastone subscriber identification module (SIM) bank over a starter wirelesscarrier connection; (b) performing the data communication through aplurality of logical data connections; wherein: the plurality of logicaldata connections are established over one or more wireless carrierconnections in a plurality of wireless carrier connections; the datacommunication is performed to provide communication service to devicesconnected to the wireless communication device; the plurality ofwireless carrier connections are established using a plurality of remoteSIMs housed at one or more SIM banks; the plurality of remote SIMs areselected by the at least one wireless communication device or by the oneor more SIM banks; and the one or more SIM banks are remotely connectedto the at least one wireless communication device; (c) transmitting andreceiving, through the starter authentication connection, authenticationrequests and authentication information; wherein: the authenticationrequests are received from respective wireless carrier networks of theplurality of remote SIMs; and the authentication information arereceived from the one or more SIM banks; and (d) stopping use of thestarter authentication connection and the starter wireless carrierconnection.
 11. The system of claim 10, further comprising: establishingat least one replacement authentication connection over the plurality ofwireless carrier connections; wherein: the at least one replacementauthentication connection is used to carry the authentication requestsand the authentication information after the starter authenticationconnection is stopped; the plurality of remote SIMs are selected basedon a SIM selection policy; and the authentication information areresponses to the authentication requests.
 12. A wireless communicationdevice, comprising: at least one processing unit; a plurality ofwireless communication modules; at least one subscriber identificationmodule (SIM) card interface; and at least one non-transitory computerreadable storage medium storing program instructions executable by theat least one processing unit for: (a) establishing a starter wirelesscarrier connection using a starter SIM; wherein the starter SIM ishoused at the wireless communication device; (b) establishing a starterauthentication connection with at least one SIM bank over the starterwireless carrier connection; (c) selecting a plurality of remote SIMsfrom the at least one SIM bank; wherein: the plurality of remote SIMsare housed at the at least one SIM bank; and the plurality of remoteSIMs are selected by the at least one processing unit of the wirelesscommunication device or by a processing unit of the at least one SIMbank; (d) establishing a plurality of wireless carrier connections usingthe plurality of remote SIMs; (e) establishing at least one replacementauthentication connection over the plurality of wireless carrierconnections; (f) providing communication service to devices connected tothe wireless communication device over the plurality of wireless carrierconnections; and (g) stopping use of the starter authenticationconnection and the starter wireless carrier connection.
 13. The wirelesscommunication device of claim 12, wherein the starter authenticationconnection is used to carry authentication request and authenticationinformation.
 14. The wireless communication device of claim 13, whereinthe at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium furtherstoring program instructions executable by the at least one processingunit for: when a plurality of replacement authentication connections areestablished at step (e), aggregating the plurality of replacementauthentication connections.
 15. The wireless communication device ofclaim 12, wherein the at least one replacement authentication connectionis used to carry authentication request and authentication informationafter the starter authentication connection is stopped.
 16. The wirelesscommunication device of claim 12, wherein each remote SIM in theplurality of remote SIMs is selected based on a SIM selection policy atstep (c).
 17. The wireless communication device of claim 16, wherein theSIM selection policy is based on at least one of: position of a remoteSIM in the at least one SIM bank, remote SIM category, tariff,performance history, services offered by operator of a remote SIM,service quality, administrator's preference, geolocation of the wirelesscommunication device, billing cycle information, and time.
 18. Thewireless communication device of claim 12, wherein the starter SIM is aroaming SIM.
 19. The wireless communication device of claim 12, whereinthe starter SIM is a removable SIM or an electronic SIM (eSIM).
 20. Thewireless communication device of claim 19, wherein the wirelesscommunication device comprises at least one embedded UniversalIntegrated Circuit Card (eUICC) to store profile information of theeSIM.